


Wars of The Mind

by LettersByTheLake



Category: Linked Universe (Legend of Zelda) - Fandom, The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms
Genre: Angst, Blood, Brotherly Love, Coma, Gen, Head Injury, Heavy Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Linked Universe (Legend of Zelda), Memory Loss, Recovery, Seizures, Self-Hatred
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-07
Updated: 2021-02-20
Packaged: 2021-03-04 03:06:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 18,691
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24586582
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LettersByTheLake/pseuds/LettersByTheLake
Summary: Warriors is trapped in a mind fogged with confusion and a body not as strong as it once was, but the Links help him realise it doesn't make him useless.
Relationships: Four & Hyrule & Legend & Sky & Time & Twilight & Warriors & Wild & Wind (Linked Universe), Link & Zelda (Legend of Zelda), Warriors & Everyone
Comments: 79
Kudos: 207





	1. Chapter 1

To warp from Wind’s Hyrule of warm weather, sparkling seas and palm trees straight to Twilight’s desolate, icy wasteland was uncomfortable to say the least. If Warriors’ travels had taught him anything it was that he wasn’t made for the cold and by the looks of most of his companion’s faces, they were thinking a similar thing. He wrapped himself up the best he could in the thin, silky material of his scarf which did nothing to shield him from the biting wind. His leather boots were now soaked through and he couldn’t feel his feet or even his legs for that matter.

Legend and Hyrule were walking in front of him and the former was hunched in on himself against the cold, his legs a mottled blue. Warrior’s rolled his eyes. The amount of times they had told him to wear warmer clothes, no wonder he was so miserable. Wind was beside Warriors and shivering violently. He thought about offering him his scarf but really it wouldn’t do much good, he just hoped they could get somewhere warmer and fast.

“Where exactly are we going, Twi?” he called out to the front of the group.

“Zora’s Domain isn’t too far from here; we should get there in about half a day.”

They groaned and Wind gave as particular violent shiver. Half a day was a very long time when your toes were freezing off.

“What about Ordon Village?” asked Wild, “It would be nice to see where you grew up.”

“Nowhere near it,” Twilight replied with a grimace, “in fact of all the places we could have been sent, this is one of the more inconvenient.”

“We’ve faced worse than a bit of cold,” said Time who amazingly didn’t seem so bothered by the snow as the rest of them, maybe it was his armour, “we’ll be fine.”

Warriors saw Legend give the eldest a blazing glare from the corner of his eye, but his teeth were chattering too much for any of his usual snide remarks.

They walked on in silence for a bit. Warriors put his hands in his armpits and kept his head bowed against the wind. He was pretty sure the tips of his ears were going to fall off and his feet were never going to thaw out completely.

Epona kept slipping slightly as she waded through the snow and she looked as miserable as the rest of them in her place between Twilight and Wild. Horses were not made for snowy mountains, just like Hylian heroes.

Warriors sighed, a plume of icy breath clouding the air in front of him as he thought about the sandy beaches they were walking across not three hours ago. He buried his face further into his scarf. Unfortunately, that meant he wasn’t looking where he was going and crashed straight into the back of Hyrule, realising too late that the group had stopped abruptly.

“Wha-?”

“Shh, Twi’s heard something,” Hyrule cut him off.

Warriors grunted softly as he turned his gaze to the farmhand ahead. His eyes were focused in concentration and his nose was turned up to the sky like a dog sniffing the air. Warriors had long since accepted his companions for all their oddities, they all had their secrets, but it was times like these when Warriors could fully appreciate how weird they all were.

“What is he-“

“SHHH,” hissed Legend, Hyrule and Wind all at once. Warriors grumbled and buried himself further into his scarf. He wished they would keep moving again, standing around like this was even worse and he just wanted to get somewhere warm and dry as quickly as possible for all their sakes.

Suddenly Twilight perked up.

“Wolfos,” he said, the softly spoken word drifting through the group on the wind. No sooner had it been said than a pack of vicious-looking white wolves leapt from the snow nearby, red eyes gleaming and lips curled up into snarls showing off extremely sharp teeth.

 _Great. Exactly what we need right now,_ Warriors thought as he forced his frozen fingers to grip his sword and unsheathe it from his side. He ignored the stabbing ache of his freezing feet, ran towards the nearest wolf and swung his sword towards it. It avoided the swipe easily and started to circle him to the side. He looked back at the others and saw each of the wolfos were doing a similar thing.

“They’re trying to surround us!” he shouted to the others, “We need to separate out so they can’t get us into a huddle.”

He heard some affirming mumbles as the links split up to cover more ground. It wasn’t ideal, they always fought better together, but they had no choice. If the wolfos managed to surround them they’d have a huge advantage. They were perfectly matched in numbers, and they took a monster each. Soon their opposition gave up on their tactics to surround them and focused instead on fighting back with surprising force. The one Warriors was fighting was relentless and rabid, doing anything it could to try and sink its teeth into his neck. He managed to slash it a few times with his sword, but it hardly seemed to slow it down.

“They’re infected!” shouted Four as he held his blade up, dark, viscous blood dripping slowly from the blade.

His exclamation was only met with grunts from the team as they desperately held their ground. Warriors had switched entirely to defence, the wolf too strong to get even a single jab in edgeways, but he still tried to keep an eye on the rest of the Links as he fought. They were all struggling; Wild was bleeding from a wound in his arm and Hyrule had been backed up to the very edge of the mountain. One step further and he would lose his footing. The scuffed-up snow was stained with streaks of dark red, a sickly contrast to the pure, sparkling white of Snowpeak Mountain, and the only sounds were the strained grunts of his friends and the vicious snarling from the wolves.

Eventually, he heard a particularly ferocious roar from Sky, and he looked around just in time to see him lop the head clean off his opponent. The glance earned him deep claw marks across his shield arm, but he hardly even felt it. Thanks to Sky they could finally get the upper hand.

“Sky! Go help Hyrule!” he bellowed between defending blows. Hyrule had a panicked expression on his face, clearly overwhelmed, and he looked about one second from falling down the steep slope behind him. Once Warriors confirmed that Sky was running over to help the traveller, he once again focused all his efforts on conquering his assailant. He was tiring quickly, much faster than his opponent which had its sheer animalistic energy. He wasn’t going to hold out much longer. He eyed the ledge which Hyrule had by now managed to get away from with the help of Sky. If he could move his wolf towards it…

With a plan now in his mind, he fought with renewed strength, matching the wolfos ferocity and pushing it backwards through the snow. He slashed and jabbed at the beast whose fur was now matted with its own blood. Its eyes only grew madder and it fought with tireless energy, but its dog-like brain was no match for the captains well-practiced tactics. It was only when its back legs started to slip down the icy slope did it realise it had been played. With a satisfied smirk, Warriors brought his sword down one last time and-

A familiar cry from nearby startled Warriors from his focus and he snapped his head towards it. Wind was on his knees, a wolf on top of him which he was only barely keeping from ripping his throat out.

“Wind!” Warriors shouted in panic, trying to get the attention of one of the others. Unfortunately, this moment of distraction cost him the upper hand with his opponent, and he turned back just in time to feel a furry weight fling itself at him. Suddenly he was falling, tumbling down a slope, so tangled with his assailant he couldn’t tell whose limbs were whose. Claws tore at his chest and the mountainside bruised his back and the world was a blurred mess of whites and pale blues as they gained speed. Until they stopped abruptly, and Warriors head exploded in agony as they hit something hard. The monster fell away limply, and the world was still blurry and unsteady, though he was sure he wasn’t moving anymore. Vague shouts could be heard in the distance as the pain in his head overwhelmed him and the last thing he saw before the world went dark was his own red blood against the white, white snow.

Warriors woke up a few times, emerging from the fog of his mind and catching glimpses of the world albeit confused and distorted. He wasn’t cold anymore, in fact if anything he was too hot and although he was surrounded by comforting softness, the pain in his head was overwhelming and kept him far from ease.

Voices floated towards him, buffeting the edges of his consciousness like the gentle wings of a fairy. He couldn’t understand what they were saying but the tones were familiar and reassuring. Once, he opened his eyes slightly to a very odd creature with fins like a fish but arms like a Hylian. It looked vaguely familiar to him, but he couldn’t think why. Before he could truly comprehend his surroundings, a strange and violent feeling overcame him, and his muscles seemed to all go rigid at once. He couldn’t make a sound as he heard frantic voices and a weight on top of him before he lost consciousness again.

Memories came to him in the darkness of his mind, some good but others he would rather forget. They swirled around him, entrapping him in his own thoughts and past until he lost all sense of time and direction. They came and left and drifted, some slipping away forever, some carving themselves into stone. They mixed and merged, and it was all so confusing. Reality was lost to him for a time.

But slowly he started to free himself from the cage of his mind and the mental pain depleted into a more physical one. A deep, throbbing ache pounded relentlessly in his head, worse than any pain he had felt before. And that was saying something. Like before, he was lying on something soft. His head felt heavy and his mind muggy.

He managed with difficulty to open his eyes; the light was like needles in his brain. He squinted through it and as his eyes got used to it, a room came into view. It was slightly blurry as if underwater which made him panic a bit before he realised he was breathing fine and it was more likely his eyes than the room itself. He blinked away the blurriness and it let up slightly. The walls seems to be carved from light coloured stone though it was far from cave-like. He tried to remember where he was, but the thought drifted away.

Beside him sat a boy with a blue tunic and blonde hair. He held his knees up to his chest and was staring into the distance with puffy, blood-shot eyes. Warriors wondered why he was so upset. He looked too haggard and weary for a boy of his age and it made him sad; no one that young should be wearing that expression. Now that he thought of it, the boy looked very familiar and he stared for a while trying to piece together where he had seen him before. It was strange, each thought slipped away so fast, he couldn’t seem to grasp to one train of thought. It was frustrating.

Slowly the boy turned his head to face him. He stared back for a moment before his expression turned first to surprise and then slowly into a huge smile. A huge and very familiar smile. His big blue eyes shone with emotion.

“Wars?” he breathed as though scared he might disappear in front of his eyes.

Warriors frowned and then replied with a name that seemed to emerge from his misty mind.

“Wind,” he stated with a dry, croaky voice, because _of course_ it was Wind. How… how had he forgotten Wind?

Wind made a sound that could have been a laugh and could have been a sob and he darted forward and gave him a hug. His headache gave a painful throb but the familiar warmth and scent of the boy who was as good as his little brother was comforting and nice.

“They said you weren’t going to wake up,” he sniffled, muffled against Warriors’ chest.

Warriors frowned again and tried to sort through his brain. But the fog hung low over his mind and he couldn’t hang onto one thought let alone a memory.

“What…” he trailed off as he forgot what he was going to say. He tried again.

“Who’s they?”

Wind sat up and looked at him. His cheeks were tear-stained and now that he was closer he noticed huge bags under his eyes.

“We got to the Zora Domain. Time had to carry you through the snow because you wouldn’t wake up even after Hyrule healed you. He said some injuries to do with the brain can’t be healed by magic, but when we got here the Zora said you would be fine and you did wake up a few times, I don’t know if you remember? So we waited for days for you to wake up, but you never did, and it was really scary because you kept bleeding from your ears and-“ he stopped to wipe the falling tears from his cheek, “and you were having these seizures and the Zora said you wouldn’t make it after all. They said you would never wake up.”

Tears were falling freely down his face now and Warriors desperately wanted to comfort him. Unfortunately his arms seemed too heavy and even staying awake was a struggle. He was also finding it hard to retain all the information Wind had just told him. They were in the Zora Domain? He didn’t know what that was, and he was also still confused about why they were there and why Wind was sad. And he had said something about the time…

“What’s… what’s the time?” he asked. The words seemed slow and clumsy coming out of his mouth. He hoped the question would distract Wind from his sorrow.

Wind looked at him strangely.

“The- the time?” he asked uncertainly, “Oh, well I think it’s just past midday… listen, I’m going to go and tell the others you’re awake,” he smiled again happily through the tears, “don’t fall asleep when I’m gone, they’ll really want to speak to you! They won’t believe it!”

Warriors blinked and he was gone… gone where? To get the others, he said. The others…

His head gave a painful twinge which almost made him cry out. He wanted so desperately to fall asleep, but he needed to stay awake for… for something. Someone… Wind, that was it.

He looked around the room and found that it was more in focus than it had been before. There was a small stream of water flowing from the ceiling and down through a hole in the floor making a calming noise like a river. A pitcher was next to it. He was thirsty, he realised, though he had no way of getting to it. His whole body was heavy and aching. He was lying in a blue bed with white sheets. It was comfortable, more comfortable than any bed he remembered sleeping in. Granted at this moment he couldn’t really think of an exact bed he had slept in before, but he was pretty sure this was the comfiest.

His eyes started to drift close. No, he had to stay awake. Why? He couldn’t remember, but he knew he had to, he had promised… Wind, he had promised Wind.

He started as several people rushed into the room. As they looked at him their faces broke into incredulous happiness.

“Wars!” exclaimed one who had darker hair than the rest and was wearing a sort of cape thing, “You’re awake! We thought…”

No wait a second, it wasn’t a cape, it was a sailcloth. He used it to fly through the sky. Sky. His name was Sky and he was kind and had once beaten Warriors in a swordfight. And that next to him was Hyrule who was quiet and adventurous and was always getting himself into trouble. His eyes slowly slid from person to person. There were so many faces and they were all familiar, they all had stories behind them that Warriors couldn’t think of right now, but he knew he knew them. He felt very overwhelmed all of a sudden and tightly shut his eyes. Thinking this hard was making his head hurt even more.

“Warriors?” said a soft voice that steadied him and made him feel like everything was going to be ok. He opened his eyes and everyone’s faces came into view a second time. Their smiles had faded a little which he didn’t like so he instead focused on the one who had spoken, the man sitting beside him. He had a crease in his brow that Warriors knew meant he was worried but only because he knew him well. He looked up to this man with one eye, he felt admiration and respect in a way he didn’t with anyone else.

“Time?”

“Yeah,” he replied with a kind smile, “Wars, do you know where you are?”

Warriors frowned a little and tried to think. Wind had said where they were before, but it was lost in the fog of his mind like the rest of everything.

“I- I can’t remember,” he said feeling upset with himself. He should remember.

“But I just told him where we are a few minutes ago!” said Wind looking stricken. Someone… Twilight… put his arm around the youngest boy. Warriors hated that he had made him look so scared.

“I’m sorry,” he mumbled.

“No, it’s ok Wars. We’re in the Zora Domain. You hit your head pretty badly, do you remember that?” asked Time’s soothing voice. He decided to concentrate on his leader and ignore the rest of them. There were too many and it made him feel overwhelmed. None of them were smiling any more.

“I hit my head?” he asked slowly. Time nodded.

“You’ve been unconscious for almost two weeks.”

Two weeks… that seemed like an awfully long time.

“Oh,” he said, because he couldn’t think of anything else to say. He was really very tired now, but it would be rude to fall asleep with all of them there. Time seemed to know what he was thinking… he did that a lot, he thought, seemed to know exactly what people were feeling even if they didn’t tell him.

“You get some rest Wars; we’ll leave you alone for a bit, we can all catch up later when you’re feeling better.” He said this last bit mainly to the group of heroes standing nervously by the doorway.

Warriors nodded as they all filtered slowly and silently out of the room with none of the energy they had come in with. He was glad they were leaving; he didn’t want to be in the spotlight. He couldn’t answer their questions and he couldn’t focus on anything they were saying, and he had a strong, deeply ingrained fear of disappointing these people, a fear he didn’t remember the origin of, but was solid all the same. But as they left one by one through the doorway, he realised he didn’t want to be alone. He had been alone in his mind for what had seemed an eternity and it had been frightening and lonely.

“Wait,” he said as loudly as he could make his unused voice go. They all stopped and looked back at him.

“Can- can someone stay?” he asked, self-consciously.

“Of course,” said Time and he walked back into the room and took the seat by his bed, the one Wind had been sitting in before. He nodded at the others and they continued to leave, some of them shooting fearful glances at Warriors.

There was silence for a bit and Warriors shut his eyes against the constant, throbbing pain in his head. His thoughts were both very loud and silent all at once and he could never remember feeling so lost. He couldn’t remember much of anything. The memories were there, yes, but they were cacophonic and disjointed.

“Why can’t I think properly, Time?” he asked quietly.

“…I don’t know,” came the reply, “But you’re awake, that’s what matters. We’ll figure it all out later and it’ll be fine. For now, rest.”

And Warriors believed him, he really did. Time thought it was going to be alright.

It was that thought that comforted him as he drifted off to sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

The next few days were a blur of confusion for Warriors. He navigated a foggy sea, lost in the muddled waters of his mind, small islands of lucidity offering only occasional respite. Those times, for the first couple of days at least, he dared to hope he might be getting better, that maybe soon he would be able to have a full conversation with his friends without forgetting what they were talking about halfway through. That maybe soon there would not be that frustrating delay when one of them walked through the door while he tried to fit their face into the distorted memories he had of their time together. But then the next time he woke it would be as if he hadn’t improved at all and he wouldn’t even be able to string a sentence together. He would look up at his friend’s dismayed faces with blank eyes, no recognition behind them. He lived those days in misery, half of the time he was terrified and confused, and the other half his thoughts were dark and hopeless and frustrated.

“It’ll take time, Wars,” said Twilight during one of his more lucid spells, “you’ve got to be patient, you’re lucky you survived at all.”

Warriors scoffed humourlessly.

“Twi, I’m a soldier, it- it’s all I’m good at. What if I’m stuck like this forever, you heard the healers, they said I might never truly recover and then I’ll- I’ll be…”

Useless, he’d be utterly useless, and what would be the point of him living at all if he was merely a burden to those he cared about?

“You’ll recover,” said Twilight fiercely, “and we’ll help you through this, no matter what it takes.”

Warriors forced a small smile and pretended he wasn’t living through his worst nightmare. He had fully accepted that his days of being a soldier were behind him, he wished the others would too. Perhaps it would all just be easier if they accepted his fate, realised that there was nothing left for them to do but give up.

But no, of course they were endlessly patient with him, understanding that it wasn’t for lack of love that he sometimes forgot their names for a moment or zoned out while they were speaking. That at the times when he knew nothing and was lost and confused, he just needed comforting words even if to him they were from strangers. They repeated information to him calmly and tolerantly, knowing he wouldn’t necessarily take it in or comprehend it the first or even the second time.

He knew they were afraid for him, he heard them whispering to each other sometimes when they thought he was asleep. They were scared he would never get better, and what then? They hadn’t said it out loud, but he couldn’t fight like this. They would have to leave him behind. Their quest was too important to compromise because one of them was broken beyond repair, he knew that and as much as the others might refuse to acknowledge it, they did too.

His mind was distorted, and physically he was weak. Tremors wracked his body constantly and he had very little control over his hands, he needed help just to bring a cup of water to his lips. It was completely humiliating.

The Zora had allowed them to stay as long as they wanted, something about owing Twilight for ‘freeing them from the ice’ made their hospitality endless and welcoming. He saw little of the Zora themselves save for a kind but quiet healer who came in to change the bandages around his head, check the claw marks that had mostly healed anyway due to Hyrule’s initial healing magic, or sometimes to check his eyes and ask him strange questions about when he was born, where he was and if he remembered certain things from his past. Sometimes he could answer and sometimes he couldn’t.

He was surprised when he saw a Zora at first, it had taken a while to figure out why it was they looked so familiar, but he realised he had been expecting a likeness to Princess Ruto, and while they did share a lot of the same features, they were altogether very different. Memories of his past were confusing. For example, he remembered Princess Ruto and the other people he had fought alongside like Zelda and Impa, but it was like they were stories told to him second-hand. When he looked back on his life it was like it wasn’t his, it was like looking at someone else’s lifetime from the outside.

And then there were those times when even that eluded him, and again he was floating along a vast and lonely sea.

But little by little the moments of clarity began to outweigh the moments of confusion. He was able to hold a fairly intelligent conversation for more than a few minutes and he found he didn’t have to work so hard to remember who they all were, he could stay awake for longer periods of time and he started to retain the information they told him, whether important or useless and with it came a full and dreadful comprehension of their situation.

“Legend?” he said quietly one day, about a week since he had first woken up.

“Mmhm,” Legend replied, lifting his head from where he was resting it, dozing on the side of Warrior’s bed. After that first day, they hadn’t left him alone for a second, there was always at least one of them watching over him whether to calm him in his confusion if needed or just to keep him company.

“When are you going to leave? Zora’s Domain I mean?”

Legend sat up and looked at him properly, narrowing his eyes and trying to figure out whether it was one of the times he was fully aware or if he was babbling.

“I’m fine,” Warriors assured, “I feel better than I have done in days.” And that was why he needed to have this conversation now.

“Ok, then what do you mean?”

“You can’t stay here forever, when are you going to leave?”

Legend shrugged.

“When you’re well enough. The healers don’t know when that will be, but they’ve said we can stay here as long as we want.” He’d said this before, and he knew he was repeating it for his sake in case he didn’t remember.

Warriors looked at him for a moment before speaking quietly.

“You know what I mean…”

“No, I don’t actually, what _do_ you mean?” There was a harsh edge to Legend’s voice which told Warriors he knew exactly what he was saying.

“I mean we all know it’s going to be a long time before I’m fit to travel again, if ever,” he said, surprising himself at how calm his voice was.

Legend looked at him carefully.

“So, we’ll wait.”

“Are you even listening? I might never be able to leave.”

Legend shook his head angrily.

“Don’t give me this now, pretty boy-“

“And I’ll only be a liability even if we did start travelling again, it’s not like I’ll be able to fight, the healer said as much.”

“How do you know that? They said before you wouldn’t wake up, so they’re wrong about this too.”

“Hylia, I thought I was meant to be the one whose brain doesn’t work. _Think_ Legend, what we’re doing, it’s too important to give up because one of us is broken-“

“You’re not broken-“

“And I for one won’t let you sacrifice it on my-“

“WE’RE NOT LEAVING YOU!”

Warriors fell silent as he watched the legendary hero before him desperately try to keep his emotions in check. He had stood up violently from his chair, eyes glistening and steam practically coming from his ears. He then turned from the shocked Captain and stormed out of the room, fists clenched and muscles taut.

Warriors clenched his jaw, trying to keep himself calm as a particularly violent bout of tremors wracked his body. He had thought Legend might have been understood, though he at least would know it had to be done. Though by his reaction it seemed he did really, he just wouldn’t admit it. He hadn’t thought much about what he would do, stay here for a bit and then try and find a way back to his Hyrule he supposed. He wouldn’t go back to the castle, not like this. Maybe he would settle down in one of the small settlements on the outskirts of the kingdom, condemn himself to a simple life and learn to live with the spells of confusion and tremors. It was a depressing thought and one that haunted him as he lay there staring at the stone ceiling.

Time walked in a few minutes later. He looked wearier than ever these days, almost looking like the old man they always teased him of being.

“Warriors?” he asked as he sat down next to him. Warriors sat up in his bed. He hated how even a small thing like that took so much out of him.

“How are you feeling?” Time asked once Warriors was settled.

He shrugged, not looking at him. He suspected Legend had already talked to him.

Time sighed wearily.

“Legend told me what you said.”

“And? You know I’m right.”

Time looked at him but said nothing.

“You need to leave, Time, and soon, we both know it. Legend knows it too,” he added quietly.

Time considered him for a moment.

“We’ll stay a few more days. You’ll have recovered enough by then, you’ve already improved a lot since we got here.”

Warriors let out a breath of frustration.

“You’ve been here two weeks already, that’s too long! People die in two weeks, kingdoms fall!”

“We need you on the team Wars, we’re family now, we’re not going to leave you behind. Not if I can help it.” Time’s voice was firm, but to Warriors, it sounded as if he was trying to persuade himself as much as him.

“I’m useless, Time! No, I’m worse than useless, I might as well hand myself over to the enemy. Don’t you see I _can’t_ go with you; I’ll be the one you need to protect, a liability. I don’t want that, not again, and let’s face it, it’s the last thing you need!” His voice was steadily growing louder. “I trained practically my whole life to be a soldier, worked harder than anyone around me. I _earned_ my place as captain and I was proud of that. So don’t you insult me by forcing me to tag along with a group of heroes that will pity me and resent me. I don’t want to feel helpless like that!”

“Wars,” said Time. His face was a mask of worry. “Wars, you need to calm down, you’re shaking.”

It was then that he noticed how suddenly violent his tremors had got. His teeth were practically chattering in his skull. But no, this was too important.

“No, I need you to promise me. Promise I won’t be the cause of whatever destruction occurs because I delayed you and held you back, this is too important, you of all people know that. I-“

He suddenly cried out as a particularly violent shudder wracked his body. Then without warning, he lost all control over his limbs, his arms and legs jerked violently, and he couldn’t speak as Time ran forward and tried to hold him down, calling for help as he leaned his full weight over him, holding down his flailing limbs. The last thing he was aware of was several people rushing into the room and Time’s voice telling him it was going to be ok before he lost consciousness.

He woke again to a groggy mind; he could hear someone next to him breathing heavily. He was safe here, wherever here was. The musical trickle of water somewhere in the room was familiar and grounding and his brain started to go over a rehearsed internal dialogue.

_My name is Link, I am a Captain in the Hyrulean army, I defeated Cia and I defeated Ganon, Hyrule is safe. I am…_

Where is he now? He knows he should know, and it’s right there, he almost has it.

_My name is Link, I am a Captain in the Hyrulean army, I defeated Cia and Ganon, Hyrule is safe. I- I travelled through a portal, yes that’s it, and am on an adventure with people like me, people also named Link and… I fell down a cliff._

Wait he fell down a cliff? That was pretty stupid…

He opened his eyes to a familiar room. Wind was there asleep and leaning on Time whose gaze was distant and unfocused. Warriors inwardly praised himself on knowing their names so promptly. Perhaps he _was_ getting better.

Then it all came back to him, how they refused to leave without him, how he, the pride of Hyrule, had been degraded to a mindless, useless shell of a man.

Tears suddenly blurred his vision. Why couldn’t they just go? Why did they insist on helping him, consoling him, making him feel so damn useless?

“Warriors?” said Time keeping his voice low as to not wake Wind. It didn’t stop the pity that infected each syllable.

“Wars, it’s ok, you had a seizure but you’re fine now.”

The tears started to flow freely down his expressionless face.

“What is it? Are you in pain? I’ll get the healer?” Time’s worry-filled words were like daggers to his pride.

“No, please don’t.” He hated how broken his voice sounded. He looked at Time straight on, into those eyes that once held respect for a fellow hero, a fellow fighter, but now only held pity and worry and distress.

“Do you see now?” Warriors said determinedly, ignoring the sobs that threatened to overwhelm him, “Do you see you have to leave me? Please, Time, please just leave me, I can’t-“ his voice broke off, he couldn’t continue.

Time looked at him for a moment and didn’t reply then turned his gaze to the young sleeping hero curled at his side.

“I tried to make him leave, you know” he said fondly, “I convinced the others to get some sleep, goddess knows they need it, but he refused. He just wanted to make sure you were alright, to be there when you woke up and I found I couldn’t say no.”

He turned back to Warriors, a fiery fierceness to his gaze that hadn’t been there before.

“He needs you Warriors. They all do. They are broken without you _. We are not leaving you here_.”

It was then, ironically, that a portal opened up right there in the room behind Time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading, I hope you are all well!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And the award for slowest updater goes to Lyra. Sorry guys I just ain't a regular updater but I hope you enjoy this chapter!

There was a moment where time seemed to stop and the two Hylians just stared at the dark rift in reality behind them, but Time was the first to react.

“Wind,” he said urgently, shaking the small sleeping Link leaning on his shoulder who grumbled a little before opening his eyes and starting at the sight of the portal.

“Wind, go wake the others and let the Zora know we’re leaving immediately.” Wind nodded and shot a quick glance at Warriors before leaving the room hurriedly.

Warriors was still staring at the portal. _This is it,_ he thought, _I’m really never going to see them again._ It seemed so much worse now he was facing his new reality straight on. He had come to see their band of misfit heroes as a family and had gotten used to their company, of feeling understood. He was going to miss them all terribly; already there was that deep aching pain in his chest of a longing for something he could never have again.

“Warriors,” said Time softly. Perhaps he could read the expression on his face. He often tried hard to keep his emotions in check, he had been taught from a young age that if he wanted to become strong, like a soldier, he shouldn’t show what he was feeling. With Time it was different. He didn’t judge and he always managed to say the right things, but now Warriors couldn’t quite look him in the eye. This time there wasn’t anything even the Hero of Time could do for him.

“Wars, look at me.” Warriors bit his bottom lip hard to try and hold back the burning sensation in his eyes and throat.

“ _Please_ ,” Time asked, and there was something in the way he said it that left no room for argument. Time’s eyes had always been complicated, having been through perhaps more than any of the rest of them had made him wise beyond his (however many) years. Malon had once told him after a shared bottle of rum that they reminded her of the night sky, beautiful and too deep to ever comprehend, and now Warriors could see what she meant as Time looked at him with such overwhelming sorrow and loss it made his heartache.

“I want to say it’s your choice whether you stay or not, that you don’t have to walk through that portal but,” he gave a deep sigh, “the truth is Wars, we can’t do this without you.”

“You don’t understand,” he replied quietly, almost a whisper, “I can’t be a liability, not again.”

“Again? What are you talking about, you’ve never-“

Warriors was saved from answering as seven heroes and a horse clambered into the room, clothes ruffled, eyes sleepy, but otherwise very much awake.

“Why in Din’s name did a portal open in here?” asked Four. He, like everyone else, was weighed down with hastily packed belongings, and Legend had a handful of objects he clearly hadn’t managed to put away.

“Isn’t it obvious?” cried Wind, who despite everything had a huge smile on his face, “obviously Hylia wanted to make it easier for Warriors to get there!”

“Makes sense,” said Sky with a smile.

“So what are we waiting for, let’s go,” hurried Twilight, “I don’t know how long it will be before the Zora realise I snuck a horse into their rooms of healing.”

They all started moving forward and suddenly Warriors' heart was beating very fast.

“Guys, I- I can’t-“ he couldn’t form the words, his hands were trembling again and he gripped them tightly together to hide it.

“Oh no,” started Legend angrily, “you’re not doing this again, Time I thought you were going to talk to him?!”

“I’ve said my piece. Warriors, I heard what you said and ultimately we can’t force you to come with us but-“

“Uh, I beg to differ, I will give you another whack around the head if you don’t get up right now and I will drag your unconscious ass through that portal whether you like it or not.”

But Warriors wasn’t listening to Legend’s angry threats nor to the ruckus that started once everyone realised what Warriors was saying. Instead, he looked to the youngest of them all whose eyes were wide with sadness and betrayal. His sword which just a moment ago was balanced on his shoulder now hung limply in his hand by his side.

“ _I’m sorry,”_ Warriors mouthed and perhaps it was those silent words that changed Wind’s resolve. His expression hardened and suddenly he was striding over to Warriors' bedside.

“If you’re staying, I’m staying too,” he said in that stubborn way in which there was no changing his mind, arms crossed. Link was reminded ever so slightly of something in his past, something he hadn't thought of for a long time.

“Wind, no-“

“Me too,” said Hyrule.

“And me,” added Wild quickly, “we almost lost you Wars, we’re not going to leave you now!” The others murmured in agreement.

“But-“ spluttered Warriors, “but you can’t!” He looked to Time for help but to his dismay, he was sporting a small grin.

“I told you, we’re a family now, you’re stuck with us.”

“You’ve got a mission, you can’t stay here, that’s ridiculous!”

“Yep,” said Four, “so are you coming or what?”

Warriors couldn’t believe his ears. In his time in the army, he had always been a small piece of the bigger picture. Yes, he had friends who he loved, but it was always a given that the war was bigger than any one person and if it came to it, he would give his life for his kingdom in a heartbeat. But here he was on a mission possibly more important than anything he’d ever done before, and they were willing to give it up for him. He didn’t know what to say.

“Come on, I’ve got your belongings,” said Time, holding his hand out. Warriors only contemplated it for a moment longer before taking it. What other option did he have?

He had been in bed for the best part of a month now, only getting up for around an hour each day because the healers told him it was important to keep active, and the dizziness overwhelmed him as soon as he was on his feet. He felt a comforting hand on his shoulder and his arm was wrapped around the shoulders of Twilight to his left who he gave a grateful, if not slightly embarrassed smile. Then they were consumed with the familiar dizzying sensation of moving through time and space.

They were deposited in a gorge of sorts, two cliffs sandwiching them on either side, vines growing untamed up the walls. Warriors got the distinct impression that this place was virtually untouched by Hylians and had been that way for many years. An ancient stillness was in the air that he had only seen in the oldest of woodlands and temples. His thoughts immediately went to Hyrule or Wild, their Hyrules being the least tame from what he had gathered, but the two boys who had taken the rear with Epona were looking around unfamiliarly.

“I think this is my Hyrule,” said Sky as Twilight helped Warriors down to sit on a rock at the side of the gorge.

“But we’ve been to your Hyrule before and it was nothing like this,” said Wild confusedly.

“We were taken to Skyloft last time, this time we are on the ground. It’s a shame, I would have loved to have seen Zelda,” he said glumly. Time patted him on the shoulder comfortingly.

“Are there any settlements nearby?” he asked.

“Not really, we’re in Faron Woods, there’s not much of anything nearby.”

“I suppose we’ll have to go where the wind takes us then, but we should make camp for now, it’s already quite late. No, Warriors, you stay there.”

Warriors groaned and fell back onto the rock on which he sat. He was feeling incredibly guilty, what was he _thinking?_ He could barely walk for Goddess’ sake and he had been so caught up in all the love that he had forgotten why this was a bad idea in the first place. And speaking of forgetting, what happened when he woke up one day and had no idea where he was. It hadn’t happened as much over the past few days, but it was still enough to be a familiar feeling.

“I can practically hear your brain working a mile a minute,” said Time with a grin, walking over to him.

“This was a mistake, I can’t carry on, I get dizzy every time I stand up and if I get too stressed, I get seizures, not to mention the tremors all the time-“

“Shh it’ll be fine, we’ve all talked about it, you can ride Epona and we’ll make stops more often than usual and as long as you tell us when you’re not feeling well, it will all work out.”

Warriors wanted to believe him, he really did, but there were just so many things that could go wrong.

“And if we get ambushed?”

“Then you can stand to the side until the time comes that you feel well enough to handle it.”

Warriors sighed and put his head in his hands. Time made it seem so simple, even when it was anything but.

“You’re more than a soldier, Wars. You’ll get your fight back, but for now, think of who you were before the war, before you learned to fight. Every one of us has a side unruled by the Hero’s Spirit.” Time clapped him on the back, unaware of the pain his words brought the Captain. Warriors hadn’t thought of his childhood in many, many years yet it seemed closer now than ever. He had strived his whole life not to feel that feeling of helplessness ever again and now it seemed he was doomed to a life of relying on others.

That night, Warriors slept fitfully. He got more tired than usual these days and had gone to bed before everyone else, missing out on the light evening conversation that he had no mood for anyway. He dreamed of a time long past, a time that he had buried deep, deep inside his memory and ironically it was only now that it became most prevalent in his mind. He was a different person then and he hated how that person was always going to be a part of him.

When he woke, he had no memory of what he had dreamed but for a lingering feeling of self-hatred, something he was feeling more and more with every passing day. A boy knelt down beside him, seeing he was awake and smiled a familiar smile.

“Wars, how are you feeling today?” he asked calmly, his green eyes hesitant. He knew he knew him, and he willed the cogs in his brain to work hard to remember where he was and who the boy was, frantically searching his misty mind.

“Hyrule?” he asked, the word coming before his brain could catch up.

“Yep,” Hyrule smiled brightly, “You’re getting faster every day, you’ll be better in no time!”

“Uh, I- I don’t remember where we are,” Warriors replied hesitantly. He knew he should know; he knew it was there just beyond his reach, he just needed someone to jog it a little.

“That’s ok, we only got here yesterday, you just need time to adjust. We’re in Sky’s Hyrule, remember?”

Warriors screwed his face up while Hyrule watched him expectantly. Then it clicked, the situation, the guilt, the reason for that self-hatred that had been there even before he could recall why.

“Right, I remember now, thanks.”

“No problem! And I mean it, you’re definitely getting better,” he smiled encouragingly, and Warriors managed a small one back, swallowing his self-consciousness.

“Come on, let’s get some breakfast,” suggested Hyrule then he helped Warriors get up slowly, taking some of his weight as they walked over to where everyone was huddled around the campfire.

“Morning Wars, do you want some eggs?” asked Wild brightly.

“Thanks,” he replied, sitting down on a log next to Twilight who had shuffled up to make room and accepting a bowl of food from Wild.

“Sleep well?” the ranch hand asked. There was a faked nonchalance to his tone which suggested he already knew the answer. He had taken one of the watches last night and who knew what Warriors had said in his sleep.

He shrugged.

“Alright, I guess.”

To his relief Twilight didn’t push any further, simply nodding and returning to his food.

“We’ll head north soon,” said Time to the group, “make sure to share out the gear between you, there’s more to carry than usual.”

No one complained but Warriors' stomach dropped with guilt. If he had stayed behind, he wouldn’t have had to ride Epona and the others wouldn’t be weighed down by belongings. The more time he spent out here, the worse the idea of journeying on with them seemed to be.

They hit the road pretty quickly after breakfast, Warriors high above them on Epona. Time had stopped him before helping him up, reinstating what he had said before and making him promise to tell them when he even felt a little unwell. Warriors couldn’t help but feeling he’d rather keel over and die than to let them know of each time a dizzy spell hit him.

Wind was a steady presence at his side, having forgiven him for wanting to be left behind and keeping light-hearted chatter that he appreciated greatly and kept his mind off the dark thoughts that always threatened the edges of his attention.

By mid-morning he was almost enjoying himself, his friends at his side, the steady clip-clop of Epona beneath him and the light, airy breeze and blue skies. The tremors were ever present but manageable and the dizzy spells were virtually non-existent. Every so often he went through the brain exercises the Zora had taught him and he found he could remember most things with almost perfect clarity. The outdoors seemed to be doing wonders.

It was only when they stopped suddenly that he was reminded jarringly of the state he was in.

“Three Deku Babas ahead,” Sky informed them quietly from the front of the group, getting out his sword. The others followed suit and crept to where their foes lay just around the corner. Time was the only one to spare a glance for the soldier on the horse.

“Stay here, yeah?” he asked, and Warriors nodded. What else could he do; he couldn’t even get down off the horse by himself. Time gave a knowing, sympathetic look before unsheathing his sword and following the others. Realistically Warriors knew he was hardly needed and that three Deku Babas were nothing for the eight remaining heroes, but he had never stayed behind from a fight, not since… _No._ He couldn’t take his thoughts back there; he would just have to deal with it. As Hyrule said, he was getting better and maybe, just _maybe,_ there would be a time when he could call himself a hero again.

The sounds of the fight were fleeting as expected and the Links came back within minutes. Goddess, but he felt so useless, what a coward he was to hide in the shadows while the others fought his battles.

Wind smiled when he returned to his side.

“I missed you, it’s weird fighting without you there.”

Warriors forced a grin.

“Ah, a few Deku Babas are no match for the Hero of the Wind.”

“I know, but you always have my back and I like having you there,” he said quietly, “I can’t wait until you’re better, it just feels wrong without you.”

Warriors’ smile dropped a bit as he wondered vaguely if that time would ever come.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's alive! Been a few months, but we got here eventually. Had to reread all of it because even I couldn't remember what happened last, but I hope some of you still want to read it after all this time.  
> I'm basically updating this when I feel like it and I've had very little time recently so I can't promise when another chapter will be up, but I'm not going to give up on this fic, I have a plot outline and one day I will finish it!
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoy!!!
> 
> ***TW: non-descriptive and brief vomiting right at the end, along with the usual.***

The next few days dragged on with more monsters than they could count, none of which Warriors fought himself. The others kept up a particularly cheerful demeanour which he knew was for his sake, and while he appreciated the effort, it was isolating knowing they weren’t being entirely truthful with their emotions. He wondered how many whispered conversations there were about him in the dead of night, how many of the lingering looks were pitying and how many of them were impatience.

For the most part, his health was improving. He had taken to walking an hour or two a day on his own feet rather than Epona to get his strength up, and although he felt drained by the end of it, he also felt a sense of accomplishment in addition to the festering guilt and self-hatred that had permanently taken residence in his mind.

But there were setbacks too, always setbacks. Always moments that reminded him that he wasn’t yet capable of carrying out life like he used to. The way his hand trembled so much he could hardly hold onto his sword most of the time, the days when they all had to stop and make camp hours earlier than they usually would because he could barely hold himself up on Epona. When he suddenly found himself unable to remember how he got somewhere and had to ask the others their names again because although he knew he knew them, he couldn’t _quite_ remember.

There was no denying the fact he was a burden to all of them and he cursed himself every day for agreeing to go with them through that portal.

The sense of excitement that came with being a hero was gone too. The anticipation he used to feel when he woke up, not knowing what the day would bring, was something of the past. The days were monotonous now, the steady metronome of Epona’s hooves, the deathly exhaustion of depleted health and the faux cheeriness of his friends were all he had to look forward to. From the moment he woke up he felt a sense of dread. It was a familiar feeling, one that he had been running from for most of his life. Memories of the past were creeping into his mind, things he’d all but forgotten, things he’d promised to himself he would never think of again.

_(“Try harder, Link. What’s wrong with you, Link. Why can’t you be more like your brother?”)_

It didn’t help that all of them still had little clue as to why they had been brought to this world. Although far from peaceful, Sky had assured them there was nothing particularly out of the ordinary for the area and the lack of action was bothering everyone, Warriors could tell.

He tried so desperately to keep a brave face for them, he didn’t need them worrying about him on top of it all, but it was just so difficult. The fake smiles he attempted to give them were physically painful and every time he tried to reassure them that he was _fine, really, he could look after himself_ , his throat seemed to close up and he couldn’t speak. And in return, they all seemed to be treading on eggshells around him. Their smiles were fake too, so unlike the ones they gave one another when they laughed together. He was an outsider in their group now.

“I wish you would talk to us, Wars,” Wind said to him one evening, about five days after they had travelled to Sky’s world. They were all sitting around a fire, eating soup as dusk turned steadily to night. Warriors sat a little separate from them. They seemed pretty relaxed today and he didn’t want to bring the mood down just by being there. Wind had got up from the log in which he was sitting after a while and joined him in the place where the warmth of the fire didn’t quite reach.

“I’m sorry I’ve been quiet lately,” he apologised, giving Wind a small, agonising smile. He must admit, Wind’s words hurt a little. “I just haven’t had much to say, I guess.”

“No, I don’t mean like that,” Wind says quickly, “no one blames you for being quieter than normal. I meant I wish you would stop pretending to be okay.”

“Well, I wish you’d stop treating me like an outcast,” he snapped back in a sudden spike of emotion, before he had time to think about what he was saying. A horrible hurt expression morphed onto Wind’s face. Goddesses, if anyone else had made Wind look like that, he’d run them through with his blade.

“Sorry,” he mumbled, looking away in shame.

“No, it’s okay,” said Wind softly, “it’s true, I don’t think most of us know how to act around you anymore. To tell you the truth, you’ve changed, Wars. A-and that’s fine,” he stuttered quickly as Warriors’ face scrunched up with emotion, “it really is, and you don’t need to try so hard to pretend you haven’t. Time said head injuries, if they’re really bad, can change people’s personalities sometimes, so it’s not your fault, and we all understand. And I know you’re in pain most of the time, so that’s probably making you feel bad as well, a-and going through something like this is really traumatic, but I want to help you! And the others do too, s-so…” He trailed off when Warriors made no effort to react, merely hanging his head, eyes to the ground.

“So you have all been talking about me,” he muttered quietly, putting almost no emotion into the words. His head was starting to pound at a rate he couldn’t deal with anymore and his hands were starting to tremble. He just wanted to lie down somewhere dark, away from people, and sleep until it all went away.

“What?” asked Wind worriedly, “I-I mean, yeah, we have a bit but only because we’re worried about y-“

“I’d like to be alone now please,” he interrupted, hating himself for doing so, but not wanting the conversation to continue, for him to say something else he would regret.

Wind was quiet for a moment before saying sadly, “okay. But just know we’re all here if you want to talk.” And then he stood up and Warriors heard his footsteps trail off towards the others. He brought his hands up to his face, trying to block out any light that hurt his eyes and with it hiding from the shame and weariness he felt closing in from all sides.

He stayed like that for a long time, blocking the hushed muttering from the rest of the group, pierced occasionally with a light chuckle. He wasn’t thinking of anything particularly, it was hard these days to catch onto one line of thought anyway. He just wanted a bit of peace.

At one point he heard footsteps approach him once more, light-footed and cautious in their movement, before leaving again. He took his hands away a moment later to find a red potion sitting on the log next to him. He stole a quick glance at the rest of the group, whose attention was off of him, before downing it. His headache reduced significantly, and he only had half a mind to feel guilty about wasting it rather than letting someone have it who might actually need it in the future.

Later, when the sounds of his companions’ chattering had faded and there was little difference between the darkness of the night and the darkness behind his hands, he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up to see Time, an unreadable expression on his face.

“Everyone’s gone to bed. You probably should too,” Time told him gently. Warriors only had the strength to nod before getting up, a hand steadying him as he swayed slightly, and making his way to his bedroll which someone had set up for him, shame heavy in his heart.

Wind stayed away from him the day after that. The guilt Warriors felt about the conversation the night before outweighed even the pain that coursed through his veins, but he couldn’t help but feel a little grateful he wasn’t being bothered and could just walk at the back of the group at his own pace.

Well, that is until Legend slowed down from ahead and fell into step beside him. He was on his second hour of walking without Epona and he was already starting to feel exhaustion dragging him down.

Although Legend and Warriors hadn’t got on to the best start when they first met, it was times like these that he really appreciated the friendship that had since evolved between them. Where everyone else treated him like he was made of glass, Legend’s blunt quips were a breath of fresh air.

“Apologise to Wind.”

Okay, they were still somewhat annoying.

“I was going to,” he replied gloomily, “I’m just not in the best of moods today, I don’t want to make it worse.”

“You’re always in a bad mood nowadays,” Legend retorted, “when are you going to stop moping and start getting on with it.”

Warriors huffed in annoyance and turned to him.

“You’d be in a bad mood too if you were in my position.”

“Probably,” he replied immediately, “but that’s because I’m a moody bastard by nature. You on the other hand, your whole thing is being annoyingly uplifting. And a pompous idiot. And grossly overconfident. And-“

“Okay, I get it,” he muttered.

“My point is,” Legend continued, “the group isn’t the same without you. So hurry up and work out your feelings before it’s too late and we never go back to the way we were before.”

_Before._ Funny how a simple moment, like not paying attention properly and falling down a cliff for example, can turn your world upside down.

“That’s oddly sentimental of you,” said Warriors with a weak chuckle.

“Yeah, if you tell anyone I told you that, I’ll deny everything.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” he replied, “but I don’t think it’s that simple.”

“Yeah, yeah, we all know more than anyone else in this fucked up world that nothing’s ever easy. But promise me you’ll try, okay?” Legend told him uncharacteristically sincerely, “because lately it seems like you’ve given up, and that’s not acceptable. We’ll help you if you let us, and Goddess knows the others have patience for days, but you’ve got to do your part too.”

Warriors, while taken aback, was also extremely touched.

“Y-yeah. Okay,” he said, at a loss for words. Warriors suddenly realised how petty he was being. All of them had been through so much. He’d heard stories from Wild, how he hated himself for not being able to save Hyrule the first time around even though he was given impossible odds, from Legend and Hyrule whose kingdoms were practical wastelands. Time had been through Goddess knows what, Wind was only fourteen for Goddesses sake and the rest of them had been through their own trials and torments. And him? He had always had a roof over his head, never gone a day hungry in his life, and he suffers one injury and he gives up? He’s pathetic.

“Oh, stop beating yourself up,” said Legend, rolling his eyes, “I don’t say this to make you upset, I’m just fed up of everyone being insufferably miserable.”

Warriors nodded

“Thanks, Leg. I think I needed that.”

Legend scoffed and sped up to catch up with the rest of the group and Warriors was once again left alone with his own fragmented thoughts.

He was getting very tired now and he thought about giving up walking and mounting Epona for the rest of the day. He shook his head and quickly dismissed the thought. He would walk as long as he could, prove to everyone, and to himself, that he wasn’t as weak as he seemed.

It’s not like he wasn’t trying. If he could just buckle up and be right as rain again, simple as that, he would have done it days ago. But it was true that Legend had a way of making him see the bigger picture. His words, while they could be considered cruel at times, were sometimes exactly what people needed to hear.

His thoughts were suddenly interrupted by movement up ahead, and to his surprise he saw that the others had all stopped still on the path, converging around something slightly off to the side. He sped up out of habit, forgetting that even if it was something dangerous, he wasn’t in any fit state to help fight it anyway.

As he approached them however, he realised they weren’t acting hostile towards the object of interest at all and the person he saw through the gaps of his companions was strangely familiar. The Goron wasn’t exactly the same as the ones he knew from his time, but they were certainly distinguishable as to what they were. Sky was talking to them (him, he was pretty sure) animatedly.

“Who’s that?” he whispered to Four who was at the back of the group standing on tiptoes to try and see what was happening despite being behind Time who was blocking his view completely.

“Sky called him Gorko,” Four whispered back, “he seems worried about something.”

Warriors tuned into what Sky and the Goron were saying. Gorko’s stony face was scrunched up in worry and Sky was speaking softly as if to console him.

“We’ll sort it out, you don’t need to worry,” Sky assured the stranger, “can you tell us how many there were?”

“Maybe twenty?” Gorko replied anxiously, “they’ve been tormenting anyone who comes close. It’s been so much safer around here recently recently, but this- well I’ve never seen anything like it!”

“Bokoblins you say?” questioned Time curiously.

“Yeah, and believe you me, those of us who have survived around here as long as I have, have learned to take out a few Bokoblins, easy, but these ones are different somehow. Stronger, cleverer. I know it sounds far-fetched but I’m telling you. These aren’t your run-of-the-mill monsters we’re dealing with.”

“Definitely infected then,” Twilight said with a grimace.

Sky kept talking to the Goron whilst Time turned around to face the rest of them with a grim expression on his face.

“Well,” he said, “it looks like we finally know why we’re here.”

The Bokoblin camp was visible from the path which meant it was easy to find but also easy for the Bokoblins themselves to pick off passers-by as they walked past. It seemed, strangely, a very tactical position for the monsters to take, one definitely not expected from a species as underdeveloped cognitively as they were.

There was a moment after they had found out exactly what they were dealing with that they all looked to Warriors. Warriors had opened his mouth to spew out the tactical plan that once would have come very naturally to him, only to find that his mind was absolutely blank. His thoughts flew away from him like flies and trying to catch them all and mould them into an acceptable plan was simply impossible. His head throbbed with pain even as he stood there, mouth gaping stupidly as he tried to come up with something, anything, to say. The others, realising what they had done, looked away with embarrassment.

He supposed all the excitement that came with having something to do, having a goal to work towards, had made them forget that Warriors hadn’t been their tactician for a long time now. For a single moment, one glorious moment, they had all forgotten how much had changed.

Goddesses he was tired. The familiar fog in his mind that came with exhaustion these days was starting wrap itself around him once more. Time clasped his shoulder sympathetically, as if being unable to outsmart a Bokoblin was nothing to be ashamed of.

“Not to worry,” he said, “you’ll get there eventually. For now we can come up with something together.”

And Warriors looked away, avoiding seeing any of their faces and the pitying expressions he imagined were written across them.

“There are eighteen of them,” Wild said after clearing his throat awkwardly, “that’s two for each of us, so-“

“Not quite,” interrupted Four.

“What?”

“There’s not quite two for each of us,” replied Four, glancing at Warriors nervously.

“Oh, right, of course,” said Wild catching on hurriedly, “well even so, I think our best plan is to split them up somehow. If what that Goron said is true and they are actually cleverer than usual, we don’t want them all together in a pack, so-“

It was all Warriors could take. Clearly he wasn’t involved in any of their plans anyway. He walked away from the strategizing group slowly, the insecurities that had latched onto him permanently in the last few days screaming at him from all directions.

What even _was_ he without his ability to strategize and to fight? He had spent his whole Goddessdamn existence training in the art of the sword and shield, he was utterly worthless without it. He had given his life, his childhood, to the army, had watched friends die in front of him, been worn down mentally until his personality had been nothing but a coping mechanism, and for what? To be bested by a fucking wolf? Thrown down a cliff and everything he had achieved had been erased to nothing.

He was a mere husk of what he once was. Everything that gave him even an ounce of self-worth had been stripped away. What was he even _doing_ here anymore?

“Hey, Warriors?” came a voice, and a hand came to rest on his arm. His face unscrunched as he raised his eye line to see Sky next to him, pity written all over his face. Goddesses, he really couldn’t deal with this right now. If he heard any more words of encouragement or sympathy or _understanding_ he was going to scream.

“I’m sorry Four said that, it was pretty inconsiderate, and he feels really bad about it.”

“It’s fine,” Warriors replied through gritted teeth.

“Anyway, we were wondering if you wanted to be our marksman?”

That… wasn’t what he was expecting.

“It’s okay if you’re not feeling up for it, of course, and I know it’s not really your thing, but close combat is probably not a great idea for you just yet.”

“Um, yeah,” he stumbled over his words, “I mean, I am feeling up for it.” He knew they had most likely posed this idea out of pity, not because they actually needed him there, but Warriors was so desperate for even an ounce of action, he couldn’t even bring himself to hate them for it.

A smile of pure sunshine creeped onto Sky’s face at his answer, and for reasons Warriors couldn’t quite fathom, the perpetual ache of guilt in his chest gave a painful jolt.

“Great!” exclaimed Sky cheerfully, “why don’t you come back over, and we can tell you the plan?”

The plan was… well actually Warriors couldn’t quite remember the plan. They had told him – twice he thinks – what he had to do, but thinking about it was like trying to hold water in your bare hands, trickling away through the cracks no matter how hard you try to grasp it. He was just really, really tired; he was pretty sure they hadn’t stopped to rest for a while now (because there were more important things to do than worry about him) and his mind was muggy from exhaustion.

“You’re going up to the overhang on the left,” Legend said as they were all stealthily making their way towards the oncoming battle, pointing to a rocky cliff that was out of the enemies line of sight but perfect for firing arrows down at them unsuspectingly.

“Yeah, I know, you’ve told me already,” Warriors replied with an eyeroll that he hoped exuded something along the lines of _gee, I’m not an idiot, Legend,_ even though that was exactly what he was. Legend stared at him blankly, because of course, if anyone could see through his bullshit it was going to be him.

“Well then get going already,” he told him impatiently.

And so that’s how Warriors ended up high above a battle with a bow in his hand and confusion settling over his mind like thick, rancid fog.

_I should probably shoot the bow,_ he thought. It would make sense seeing as he had a weapon and there were enemies attacking his friends. He set his sights on the Bokoblin nearest to him, the one that was fighting… Twilight, that was his name. He notched an arrow, drew the bow and-

Damn, his hands were shaking so much he was never going to make the shot. What was worse is he could potentially accidentally injure Twilight instead if he was unlucky enough. But he had to prove to them he could do it, didn’t he? They had offered him, for the first time in so long, a chance to prove to them and to himself that he wasn’t worthless, that he could still fight, that he was still worthy enough to call them his friends.

He drew the string tighter, taking deep breathes and willing his tremors to cease. His head throbbed sharply and every time he tried to focus properly on his task, the pain only grew. He could do this. He could, he’d done it a thousand times before, just point the bow and shoot.

After a while he sighed and put the bow down. He couldn’t. Couldn’t put his friends in danger of friendly fire just to prove some pointless case. He dropped from his crouched position to the floor, his knees grazing the muddy ground, coating his trousers in dirt. Tears pricked at the edges of his vision and it was all he could do to keep them from falling.

He was truly pathetic.

A pained grunt reached his ears from below, knocking him out of his spiral. He immediately got up into a crouch again and shuffled his way to the edge of the overhang, searching for the source of the noise from his friends beneath him. The enemies were severely depleted now, the Hylians clearly having the upper hand, despite really being given a run for their rupees. But the two people fighting closest to where Warriors hid, Twilight and… Four, were up against a Bokoblin about three times the size of the rest of them. It towered over them and fought with incredible strength.

He could see Twilight’s right arm was hanging limply and uselessly beside him as he dealt it blows, and drops of blood were steadily dripping to the floor, mixing with the dirt beneath him. The others seemed to have cottoned on to the fact they were struggling and were making their way towards them to help as soon as they had killed the last remaining small Bokoblins.

Warriors could see, very clearly, that Twilight and Four would be fine. Help was coming and, in the meantime, they were holding their opponent off reasonably easily, so he wasn’t quite sure what possessed him to do what he did next.

Before he could even think about what he was doing, he was unsheathing his sword from his back and throwing himself off the overhang and into the fray almost headfirst. For one alarmingly long moment he was in freefall, hurtling towards the beast, totally out of control and yelling, half battle cry, half fearful scream. Then, miraculously, he somehow managed to pivot himself in the air so the sharp end of his sword went straight into the back of the Bokoblins neck. He only had half a second to feel a small amount of elation before he hit the ground _hard_.

He swore his brain might’ve rattled in his skull as his previous headache rose to blinding levels at the impact, despite him managing to land more or less on his feet. He caught one satisfied glimpse at the Bokoblin falling to the ground and disappearing into smoke before nausea overtook him and he vomited on the floor before promptly blacking out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think I'm incapable of not leaving a chapter on a cliffhanger :)
> 
> I just wanted to add, because there's a lot of self hatred from Warriors in this fic (him calling himself worthless and stupid and such), that his thoughts are in no way what I think of people in his position or alike. Just in case it wasn't clear because I worry about stuff like that way too much.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Look at this! Another chapter already! I think it's because I have a lot of work that I really don't want to do and this is my way of procrastinating...
> 
> I've written the next chapter too so that should be up soon when I edit it :)
> 
> Thank you so much for your comments! I'm worried the writing is really bad in this but you guys are a great confidence booster and why I'm keeping going with this story! I hope you have a great day!

Warriors woke to pain. He often did nowadays but this was something else. It reminded him of the worst days back at the Zora Domain right after he had woken up from his coma and all he could do was lie in that damn bed as daggers stabbed at him from all sides. It felt like someone had ripped open his head and was stomping on his brain with metal soled shoes.

“Wars?” came a voice as if from underwater, and something soothingly cool was placed in his hand and brought up to his mouth. An arm snaked under his shoulders to prop him up slightly and the unique taste of red potion filled his mouth. As he swallowed the liquid, he immediately felt the pain recede to slightly more manageable levels and he succeeded in opening his eyes.

The light stung, sent knives into his skull, but he kept them open, allowed his blurred vision to sharpen and cognizant images to form. It was still light, so he suspected he hadn’t been out for too long.

Hyrule was looking down at him worriedly (Warriors took a moment to appreciate that he at least remembered who he was; small mercies) and he realised he was lying on the ground, wrapped up in blankets, in a place that was definitely not the battleground he had collapsed on. So he had been carried. That was humiliating, just like everything else in his Goddessforsaken life at the moment. His mind seemed strangely clear though, and unfortunately that meant he remembered in perfect detail the idiotic move that was jumping off a small cliff.

“How are you feeling?” Hyrule asked him, his forehead crinkled with concern.

“Fine,” he said automatically, his voice slightly hoarse, and Hyrule’s concern morphed into a dissatisfied frown.

“No he’s not,” came a voice to his right that Warriors recognised as Legend’s. “You’re far from fine and you have no one to blame but yourself,” he said, his face, adorned with irritation, coming into view.

“You’re an idiot,” he added for good measure.

“Let him rest, Legend,” came another voice which prompted Warriors to turn his head painfully to see the rest of the group sitting around the camp. It was Time. Twilight was sitting beside him more stiffly than usual, his entire upper arm wrapped with blood-stained bandages. Looking around, everyone else seemed to be uninjured as far as he could tell.

“We’ll give him a proper lecture when he’s feeling better.”

Warriors groaned and put flopped his arm over his eyes, hiding in the crook of his elbow. He didn’t need a lecture from the old man. He knew what he did was stupid; he didn’t even know _why_ he did it, it just kind of happened. Light footsteps scuffled towards where he lay, and he took his arm away and opened his eyes just a crack. It was Wind, and for some reason he had a smile on his face.

“Don’t tell Time,” he whispered, getting close to him, “but I thought it looked really cool. You kicked that Bokoblins ass!”

Warriors couldn’t help but let out an amused snort.

“Thanks, Sailor,” he replied amusedly. “but it probably wasn’t the smartest move. I wasn’t really thinking when I jumped.”

Wind shrugged and Warriors suddenly remembered he still hadn’t apologised for the night before.

“Listen, Wind,” he said, fighting his headache to focus on the words he was saying, “about last night, I-“

Wind cut him off with a wave of his hand. Hyrule shuffled away from where he was sitting next to them to give them some semblance of privacy.

“Don’t worry about it, you’d had a long day; I know you didn’t mean any of it really.”

“It’s no excuse,” he said, sitting up slowly and putting as much sincerity in his voice as possible. “You’re right, Wind. I know I’ve been acting differently. It’s just… sometimes my mind gets so hazy, it’s difficult to even think about what I’m saying at all, it’s all so… confusing.” He trailed off for a moment, not really knowing what he was going to say. Wind watched him concernedly but said nothing, waiting for him to collect his thoughts.

“I-I’m getting better,” he continued, spiking his words with faux optimism, “I mean I feel pretty shitty right now, but in general I’m better than I was, and I’ll try to be more positive too. And I’ll tell you on the days I’m feeling bad if that makes you happy.”

Wind’s face broke into an enormous grin and Warriors decided that his little white lie was worth it, despite the guilt.

“C’mere, Sailor,” he said with a small grin and opened his arms to draw Wind in for a hug. It was warm and comfortable and soothed the aching pain just a little. Warriors never wanted it to end, he just wanted to stay here, wrapped around Wind’s smaller frame, safe in their brotherly love.

“Thanks, Wars,” Wind said, his voice muffled in the fabric of Warriors’ tunic, “I just want you to be happy.”

Another jolt of pain made itself known in his chest.

He managed to keep a smile on his face as they broke apart and Hyrule joined them to urge Warriors to get some more rest. He buried himself in the blankets so no one could see the distraught expression and the tears that burned his eyes.

The truth was, Warriors had been thinking about it a lot in the times his mind was clear enough to do so. He was getting better, that was true, but not at a rate that was fast enough for their line of work. He wouldn’t tell the others, they would only try to stop him, but as soon as they reached the next settlement he was going to stay there and let them go on without him.

He appreciated the way they fought for him not to be left at Twi’s Zora Domain, it was incredibly touching. But ultimately wholly unrealistic. He wasn’t going to just run away in the middle of the night into these unknown woods in Sky’s Hyrule, he knew if he did that the others would never stop looking for him. Besides, in his current state he doubted he would last the night. No, waiting until they got to the next settlement was a nice compromise and somehow, he’d convince them to let him go.

The thought made him slightly more cheerful, the fact he could actually do something to help the others rather than just drag them down for the rest of their journey. He would be sad to leave them, he hadn’t had a group of people around him that felt so much like a family since… well, never, he supposed. Not in the same way. He’d had some good comrades in the army, but no one who understood him the way the other Links did.

He tried to block out the images of Wind’s distraught face when he had tried to get them to leave him behind the first time. It was for the best. Wind would get over it. And maybe so would he eventually.

The drift into sleep was fast after that, the pain of his pounding head weaving itself into dreams of fear and worthlessness, family old and new. If a hand in the waking world came to comb through his hair to soothe his restlessness, well, Warriors never knew.

The next day, to Warriors’ chagrin, Time made good on his promise of a lecture.

“I mean, what were you thinking?” he asked him desperately after he’d taken him aside, away from the others who Warriors had no doubt were trying very hard to listen in any way they could.

His head was still aching horribly, and he had a terrible feeling that the incident the afternoon before had set him back several days in his recovery.

“I’m sorry, Time,” he told him wearily, “I know it wasn’t a clever thing to do. Honestly, I don’t think I was thinking at all.”

Time sighed and ran a hand over his face.

“No, I’m sorry,” he replied, “it was too soon to put you out on the field, even if it was just as a marksman.”

Warriors looked away but said nothing. It’s not like he could argue, Time was absolutely right.

“I couldn’t even hold the bow straight,” he muttered heavily.

“You’ve got to stop beating yourself up,” Time told him, a slight irritability in his tone, “you’ve recovered remarkably more quickly than we thought you would. Hylia, the Zora were certain you weren’t going to survive at all only a couple of weeks ago. I know this is frustrating for you, but if you aren’t patient, you’re never going to recover completely. You should have told us you weren’t able to go into that fight, none of us are going to think less of you.”

But they did though, didn’t they. They all saw less of him now, he could see it in their pity, in the way they didn’t expect anything from him anymore. He didn’t say that to Time though, his promise to Wind at the forefront of his mind. Instead he curved his mouth upwards into a smile and hoped it reached his eyes.

He’d always been good at that; smiling even when there was nothing to smile about. In his opinion, half of what it meant to be a leader was raising the spirits of his men, giving them hope. Without hope there was no chance of winning. He often made himself look stupid, flirted with every remotely attractive person he came across, said ridiculous things to lighten the mood. It was worth it, every time and reminded people of the little joys in life. He had been off his game recently and consequentially the others had never been so low. He would try his best to make it up to them from now on.

“I know,” he said, “thank you. You’ve all been so supportive of me.”

Time smiled back at him briefly and Warriors was satisfied that Time seemed to buy his own.

“This has been hard on you and it’s been difficult for all of us to see you suffer,” Time reached out to put his hand on his shoulder, “we’ll help you get through it, however long it takes.”

Sitting around the campfire that night was almost like being back to how they were before the accident. Their laughter was louder than it had been in weeks and the concerned looks flickering towards Warriors were scarce, if not entirely absent altogether.

The night air was warm and the crickets chirped peacefully around them. The darkness provided walls of comfort where the light of the fire didn’t quite reach, sheltering them all together in a place where, against all odds, the band of heroes had found safety in one another.

“-and I thought, huh, what would happen if I did a backflip on this thing?” said Wild in the middle of a dramatic retelling of his first time shield surfing.

“Please tell me you did not,” groaned Twilight fearfully. His arm was still bandaged but thanks to their plentiful supply of red potions, the damage was minimal.

“Hey, I thought it was a pretty cool idea at the time! It didn’t exactly go to plan though. I managed to do it pretty well at first, but I lost control right after I landed and surfed straight into a Moblin.”

Hyrule snorted.

“A Moblin?! Those things are huge! How did you not see it?”

“It’s kind of difficult when you’re shooting down a mountainside at sixty miles per hour on a piece of metal you stole from a Bokoblin five minutes earlier!”

“Din give me strength,” Twilight muttered.

And Warriors was smiling. A real, genuine smile that required no effort or emotional torment.

Because the thing was, when they were like this it was so much easier to ignore the waves of confusion that came over him at random points and the perpetual headaches that were sometimes too much to bear. He didn’t feel quite so useless when he was included his friends’ conversations. And although he was perhaps quieter than he used to be, choosing to listen to the others’ stories from their travels instead of telling his own, it was fun and relieving that he could still _feel_ like this, that happiness for him wasn’t something of the past.

He knew that, really, happiness wasn’t ever constant. He knew from experience that people who say they are happy in general still have lows, still have days when it all seems hopeless. And he wasn’t happy at the moment, he knew that, but laughing with his friends around a campfire made him hope that someday he could be again.

The next portal came after two more days of walking through woodland, fighting beasts and Warriors sitting atop Epona, slowing them all down. After the cliff-jumping incident it had seemed horribly like he was back to square one. The first day he struggled even on Epona, the swaying of her movements making him dizzy and sick, and they had to stop almost once an hour so he could recover. All the strength he had built up in the past week that allowed him to walk for at least two hours a day had been erased.

He tried not to apologise about it too much. Every time he did, the others would wave it off and he was worried he was being annoying.

That being said, he did try harder to engage more in general conversation with his companions and keep the promise he gave Wind. It was the very least he could do; the youngest hero deserved so much more than to be miserable because of him, as did they all.

By now they’d changed times and dimensions enough that the sight of the swirling portal blocking their path wasn’t hugely surprising, but it was always a strange sight to see no matter how many times it happened.

“That’s a bit soon, isn’t it?” pondered Hyrule, “We’ve only been here a week.”

“Are you really questioning whether the magic portal thing is _on time_ , ‘Rule?” asked Legend, “because I somehow doubt it keeps a schedule.”

Hyrule made a noncommittal noise in return.

“Stay close as we go through,” commanded Time, “we don’t want a repeat of what happened in Wild’s time, it took forever to find each other again.”

Warriors had never been Hylia’s biggest fan, but as they all made their way towards the dark rift in realities, he found himself praying to the Goddess that they would be spat out somewhere inhabitable. A nice small town perhaps where it would be easy to make a new life for himself.

He got off Epona before walking through after Twilight who was in front of him, her reigns held in his hand, his heart thumping with hope. He broke through the cool surface, disorientated as he landed on the other side, a hand there to catch him and stop him from falling over completely onto the long grass beneath his feet.

“Whose Hyrule is this, then? Anyone recognise it?” he heard Four ask as he tried to clear his vision.

They were standing atop an open hillside, long grass blowing in the warm breeze. Hyrule Castle lay some distance in front of them and they could see the building along with the Castle Town in its entirety from their raised view.

The sky was blue, and the breeze was calming, yet Warriors was a wreck of contradicting emotions.

“It’s mine,” he murmured, just as the portal closed behind him. 


	6. Chapter 6

Was it a good thing ending up in his Hyrule? Of that Warriors wasn’t certain. On one hand it meant he was home, he had a place to stay, people he cared about, and, hypothetically, if there was anywhere he would want to live out the rest of his life, it was back where he belonged. Or Wind’s time because that had some pretty nice tropical weather, but that was beside the point.

On the other hand, he couldn’t think of anything worse than facing his friends and soldiers, facing the King, facing _Zelda_ , right now in his current state. He had spent his entire life building respect from his men and from everyone at the castle; turning up unable to fight, or even walk long distances, would unravel everything he’d worked so tirelessly for.

“So I’m guessing we’re heading to the castle, right Wars?”

Warriors snapped out of his thoughts at Twilight’s words and realised everyone was looking at him while he stared into nothingness. _Nice going._

“Er-“

Should they go to the castle? He definitely didn’t want to, but he didn’t have a proper excuse to go anywhere else. _Think, Link, what should you do?_

The others were all watching him with careful patience as they waited for him to think. It was the same expression they always had when speaking to him recently.

“Yeah. I suppose we should,” he said resignedly, simply because he couldn’t think of another option.

And so, after mounting Epona again, he and the rest of them travelled the couple of hours it took to get to the outskirts of the castle. It was comforting being back, despite everything. There was something blessedly familiar in the air that wasn’t present in any of the other times. The weather was blissful, and the open countryside was welcome after being stuck in Sky’s woods for so long.

About halfway through the journey they were attacked by three Lizalfos, normal ones with no strange infected blood. Warriors stood to the side on Epona while the others fought the short battle, parrying and lunging in practiced attacks.

Warriors looked on longingly and wished he hadn’t taken his fighting skills for granted back when he was still fighting alongside them. It felt even worse to be sitting on the sidelines now that they were in his time. This would usually be the point he would be shouting out tips and instructing them on the ways of the beasts of his world. It was strange, wanting to take part in the gruesome skirmish, but he could really do with letting off some steam right about now.

They dealt with them quickly of course, Wind letting out a cheer of victory when the last one fell, to which the others answered with their own sounds of triumph, high-fiving and smiling at each other at their small win.

Warriors once again felt very separate from them all.

It was just before they reached within the sights of the Castle Town gates that Warriors started to dismount Epona.

“Uh, Wars? What are you doing?” asked Hyrule nervously.

“Getting off Epona,” he replied, drawing the attention of the rest of the group who were slightly ahead.

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” questioned Hyrule, “you haven’t exactly been up for walking since the Bokoblin battle”

“I’ll be fine,” he dismissed, “it’s not far to the castle from here.”

“It’ll be half an hour at least,” chimed in Four from where they had all stopped.

“Exactly, I’ll be fine,” he said again, mustering all the energy he had not to snap at them. He used to kind of like being in the centre of attention. Not like this though.

To his surprise, no one kicked up too much of a fuss. Perhaps it was because they knew they were about to enter a place full of people he knew, or maybe it was down to his behaviour over the past couple of days. He had been trying his best to give off the impression of being more open about how he was feeling, as well as generally being more cheerful. It wasn’t easy considering he was feeling far from it, but it was worth it. The atmosphere around the group had lightened considerably.

Time raised his eyebrows but otherwise stayed silent as he turned away to walk with the rest of them, and Wind frowned, falling back to walk beside Warriors. Twilight took Epona’s reigns with a thankful smile and sped up again to walk with Wild, leaving just him and the Sailor.

He chatted with Wind for a while as they walked through Castle Town. It was busy and bustling and wonderfully familiar to him. The smell of baking bread from the bakery he used to get up extra early to get breakfast from, the raucous laughter from the day drinkers at the tavern he had spent many a late night with his friends. He loved this town; it was safe, and he knew it like the back of his hand. It had been his home from the age of eleven, and at one point he had thought it would be until he died.

People recognised him as they walked past, called his name, stopped him to chat and ask where he’d been. He smiled at them, introduced the others, caught up with people he hadn’t seen for months, all with a genuine smile on his face. It was almost enough to ignore the steadily growing headache building in his temples.

“Do you know _everyone_?” asked Wind amazedly after what felt like the hundredth person stopped him and asked how he was _(“I’m great, thanks for asking! It’s been a while, how’s the family?”)._

“Quite the social butterfly,” chuckled Twilight from in front of them and Warriors rolled his eyes. None of them seemed particularly annoyed the walk through town was taking so long. In fact, they were watching him rather fondly as he made the rounds.

“Somehow it doesn’t surprise me,” smirked Sky and there was a murmured agreement.

Unfortunately, as nice as it was to see people he knew again and to take up his old position of popularity within Hyrule, the walking and the socialising was all horribly exhausting. The truth was, he wasn’t up for even a half hour walk, let alone the extended time it took with people stopping them, and Warriors started feeling the effects in full force about three quarters of the way to the castle.

“Are you okay, Wars?” Wind whispered, “you look really pale. Maybe you should just ride Epona the rest of the way.”

“I’m fine,” he said through gritted teeth just as the world started to become unsteady around him. Those two words were well worn by now and had almost lost their meaning completely. His head was throbbing, and he was beginning to feel lightheaded, but he willed himself to carry on. He absolutely couldn’t show how weak he was in front of all these people who knew him and respected him, the gossip would spread like wildfire and soon everyone would know that Hyrule’s hero was unfit for service. He thought of how the other Links treated him so much differently now compared to how they did before. No, he had to push through. Failing was not an option.

“Link! Is that you? We’ve all missed you around here, where have you been?” A brown-haired woman with a bright smile took up his vision. Goddesses, how he remembered each person’s names before was a complete mystery. But he had. He painstakingly made sure he learned every single person’s name he was introduced to. It was important to him back then, when he had different priorities and higher goals. Now he would gladly settle for walking straight.

He plastered on a smile as big as he was able and spewed out conversation without really knowing what he was saying. She seemed to be happy enough and not offended or anything when she said goodbye and went back to whatever she was doing.

Warriors smile dropped as soon as she left as if the simple act of turning up the corners of his mouth took all the energy in the world. The world around him was alarmingly blurry now and he was worried he wasn’t going to be able to hold himself up through the dizziness anymore. He started to panic as his worst fears came true and his vision started to tilt. The town was a whirlwind around him, so much noise and so much light overwhelming his fried senses and he longed for somewhere dark and quiet and _alone._

But then there was a solid presence at his side, and someone took his arm and wrapped it around their shoulders. He tried to pull away; _they’d see, they’d realise he was useless and incapable,_ but he simply wasn’t strong enough to wrench his arm out of their grip. Besides, it was a huge relief to have something to lean against and to guide him, and surely it was better than faceplanting into the floor.

“It’s okay,” the person next to him murmured. Time. Of course it was Time.

“They won’t notice, they’ll just think we’re good friends putting our arms around each other. It’s normal, they won’t realise,” Time assured him soothingly and maybe he didn’t want to be alone after all.

It was all Warriors needed to stop his struggling and let himself be guided along. He was vaguely aware of the sounds of his companions talking to other people as they carried on through the town. He suspected they were keeping them away from Warriors as no one attempted to greet him again, and he was eternally grateful for that despite the guilt gnawing at his stomach.

It could only have been another ten minutes before they arrived at the castle, but it seemed like the journey was never ending. At some point someone – Twilight, he was pretty sure – came around to his other side to take half his weight off of Time, and he supposed at this point there was no pretending he wasn’t halfway collapsed on the floor. He heard muffled lines of conversation floating around him; his friends asking to see the princess, the concern of the guards and the assurance that he would be okay, he just needed to rest.

And then they were in the halls of the castle, the smell of the air so familiar, and he couldn’t help but relax ever so slightly.

“Link?!” came a familiar voice as they made their way through the castle. Zelda. _No_ , she can’t see him, not like this. But he was leaning most of his weight on both Time and Twilight now and his attempts to focus on any of his blurred surroundings was becoming increasingly more futile.

“Goodness, what happened?!”

“A long-term injury, I’m afraid,” he felt more than heard Time’s voice rumble next to him, “he’s still recovering, and he worked himself a bit too hard today. Would it be possible to find him a place to lie down?”

“Of course!” he heard Zelda reply immediately. Huh, some reunion this was, “just this way.”

And then they were off again down the blissfully cool hallways of Hyrule Castle, Warriors’ head practically lolling against Twilight’s shoulder. He just about had the presence of mind to hope they didn’t pass anyone on the way to wherever they were going before they stopped once again.

“Just put him down here,” came Zelda’s voice again. Warriors had closed his eyes at some point to block out the nauseating swirling of the world around him, though he couldn’t remember doing so.

“Thank you, Princess,” he heard Time say before he was placed on something soft. His head hit a soft, silky pillow that felt wonderful against his hot skin before he finally gave into the call of unconsciousness.

“Link?”

It was very quiet. There were no sounds of birds singing or people bustling and chattering around him. He hadn’t woken up to this kind of peace for a very long time. The voice that said his name was peaceful too, soothing and familiar, like trickling water.

“Link? Are you awake?”

He opened his eyes. He was in a room of stone with big windows, flowing silk curtains floating in the breeze in front of them. The bed was big and warm and his body sunk into the mattress in a way he wasn’t used to. It was fancy, much more extravagant than the rooms in the castle barracks that he was used to.

He turned his head to see a beautiful woman with long, flowing hair and pale pink clothes. She looked like a princess.

Oh, she _was_ a princess.

“Zelda?”

She smiled, her eyes glittering.

“Oh, good. The others said there was a possibility you wouldn’t remember me.”

So she knew. She knew he was weak; she knew what had happened. He looked away in shame.

“I came to wake you for dinner,” Zelda continued, ignoring the sullenness of her old friend, “I convinced the others to let me do it.”

She paused, perhaps waiting for him to say something. That was how it usually went, wasn’t it? He would start a conversation with her, charm her into liking the boy from the small village on the edge of nowhere with the swordsmanship he pretended came naturally to him and the good looks Hylia was _so kind_ in blessing him with.

But it seemed all that was left was silence.

“I missed you,” Zelda said softly. And then he remembered. Maybe it was like that at the start, maybe at first she was drawn in to their friendship by his natural charisma, but eventually she realised how much he worked to perfect his fighting skills, harder than anyone around him. She understood that the charming smiles he wore, which were just as much a part of his image as his signature blue scarf, were often a front to hide the feelings he bottled up deep inside.

Zelda was different to his other friends in his world. She still respected him though she knew him better than anyone else, the real him, the one that was afraid going into battle, the one that doubted himself despite all he’d accomplished. Back before he met the Links, she had been the first person in his life to understand the pressure he was under and the way he felt about things.

He sat up, leaning his back against the fluffy silk pillows. To his relief he realised most of the dizziness had gone and that his headache had depleted to a barely-there throb.

“I missed you too,” he said honestly, looking at her again. Her expression held no pity.

“You look terrible,” Zelda said bluntly, though she was smiling, and he couldn’t help but let out a snort of laughter at the normality of it, the way she didn’t hold back her words as if she said anything too harsh he might shatter like glass.

“I’m serious,” Zelda grinned humorously, “you didn’t even look this bad after being stuck in that forest for a month with no washing supplies. What’s happened to your hair?!”

He touched a hand to the straggled ends of the locks he usually kept so carefully styled and clean. It was true he hadn’t exactly been doing his morning beauty routine lately. Hylia, he hadn’t even given it a trim in about a month. He was probably starting to look as untamed as Wild.

“I guess it hasn’t exactly been a priority recently,” he said, and Zelda raised an elegant eyebrow.

“When has your hair ever not been a priority?” she teased before grabbing his hand and pulling him up so he sat on the edge of the bed, his socked feet touching the cold floor, “come on, we still have some time before dinner. How about I give a cut?”

And then she whisked him up in a hurricane of blossom pink fabric and floral perfume and before he could give her an answer he was sitting in a wooden chair on the other end of the room, looking at himself in the mirror which was on the dresser front of him.

And… _holy_ Hylia was this really what he’d been walking around looking like the past few weeks? This was a _disaster_! He could barely recognise himself. He watched the face in the mirror sink into a disgusted frown as he took in the full image. His skin was pale, dead looking and so _dry_ , and the circles beneath his eyes were darker and more sunken than a redead’s. And his _hair_. It hung limp and flat on his scalp instead of the natural voluminous waves it usually held. It was way longer than he liked it too, though the strands that fell in his eyes hadn’t been too much of a bother lately because he hadn’t actually been fighting.

Zelda let out a burst of raucous laughter at his expression.

“Don’t worry, I’ll have you looking like your old self in no time,” she told him, “I happened to be a master in beauty tips thanks to a certain hero who taught me everything he knew.”

“You literally have professionals do your hair every day,” he deadpanned at her reflection, though he was smiling.

“I told them a lot of your advice!” she insisted, “they actually use some of it now.”

“No way,” he laughed.

“It’s true! Now put this under your eyes before those eyebags consume your face,” she told him, passing him a green paste in a pot that Warriors knew was made from various herbs that brightened the skin. He did as he was told as Zelda brought out a pair of delicate scissors from one of the drawers on the dresser.

He watched in the mirror as the split ends fell away under Zelda’s fingers and she styled his hair the way he had done since he first came to Hyrule Castle as a lonely, lost eleven-year-old. He hadn’t cared much about the way he looked before then, but he soon realised that looking good was a sure way to earn people’s respect. So he had quickly educated himself in the latest fashion trends from the women at the market stalls who sold jewellery and pretty dresses, even got one of them to trim his hair the way he wanted. He spent the little money he saved from begging to buy inexpensive but trendy fabrics which he was taught to stitch together by a seamstress who took pity on him.

Those women were the first people who treated him normally, like they would everyone else, no pitying glances no curious narrowing of their eyes. They would look at him differently now, he mused. He presented himself in a way that meant women, and occasionally men alike, pinned him down with careful looks and flirtatious smiles and the wittiest conversation they could muster. Well, maybe not right now considering the state of his hair.

“Oh, stop feeling sorry for yourself,” Zelda scolded, making him wonder if he really was that transparent or she just knew him that well, “I’m almost done.”

He liked that about Zelda. She said what she thought, no beating around the bush. She was sort of like Legend in that way, he thought amusedly… if Legend was a beautiful princess, which he certainly was not.

“There,” Zelda announced finally with a flourish of her comb after rubbing some oils in his hair for the finishing touch. He smiled and wiped the paste off his eyes with a cloth before looking at himself properly.

His skin was still dry and pale, but his eyebags had noticeably decreased, and his hair looked much better, shiny, voluminous and cut into his usual style. He smiled. He wasn’t quite looking as good as he used to, but for now he was happy looking at least a little like he had put some effort into his appearance. He felt lighter somehow, like the locks of hair Zelda had cut away had carried more weight than simple strands of hair should.

“Thanks, Zelda,” he said genuinely, and she held out her hand to him which he took gladly.

“No problem,” she replied, “now, let’s go and eat.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AU where Link and Zelda run a beauty salon


End file.
